Thursday, December 11, 2008

I never updated you on new ward callings. Scott is still waiting for his although the bishop said that he hasn't been forgotten. I'm sure Scott will be THRILLED with whatever he gets! : )

I have been called as the ward organist (woo-hoo!!!) and the bulletin/newsletter person. As most of you know, that is exactly the kind of thing I love doing so I couldn't be happier. Ok, I could be happier teaching in RS - Teachings For Our Times. But this is the next best thing!!! I've already got my template ready for the newsletter and it is so pretty and yet appropriately masculine at the same time. It's all about ratio's! : ) I bet you never knew creativity was all about mathematical relationships...

The only thing that could make this calling better is if the newsletter came out on "PRETTY" paper instead of plain jane stock. : ) This totally feeds into my love of making invitations/letters/cards/etc.

So, if any of you were in church Sunday, you'll see that there is much to be desired when it comes to the organ. Apparently, there is a DVD that accompanies the organ and I will be watching it!

So mom, because I know you're curious, we couldn't figure out how to go from the preset prelude setting to a normal setting without the organ turning off after the first chord each time. And yes, I tried multiple times on the opening song with only the first chord sounding for a split second before nothing. I finally moved to the piano for the opening song. Bro. Winters then was able to restart the organ while the opening song was being sung and we figured all would be good for the sacrament song. Not so ... Because the organ is brand spanking new and I've never played on it before, I am unfamiliar with the stops. I chose a stop setting that I felt by the looks of what lit up would be appropriate for the more reverent hymn. What I didn't realize was that the third pedal (you know, the furthest to the right) added more stops until all you heard was a horrible muddy yuckiness. In panic, I switched up to the swell for the second verse hoping to have a cleaner sounds and all that came out was two measures of muted air with a hint of the notes that only the Winters on the stand with me and the bishopric could hear. I went right back to the muddy yuckiness to finish out the hymn. (Our organ at the Coit building only has two pedals so this has been a learning curve for me. Of course I didn't realize this was the issue until after the Sacrament hymn was over and I could look more closely at the offending organ.) Now come time for the closing hymn I'm terrified out of my mind with what is next going to go wrong. Amazingly, it was perfect. I was feeling pretty confident again and wasn't worried about the dismissal hymn. But that's when things fell apart again. In my playing around with the stops, I have found a bass coupler stop hidden below the keyboards and well camouflaged. I had used it and the great to pedal stop on the closing hymn and hadn't thought to check to see if the stops had remained lit for the dismissal hymn. With my tweaking of the stops, I didn't think to check those two and they were most definitely missing for the dismissal hymn which came out all mousy. Oh the frustrations of an unfamiliar organ!!!!

So the story doesn't end there, mom. The "piano" (I use this term in the loosest of contexts) in the RS room is really a player organ with a setting for a bright piano and one for a mellow grand piano. Well, I prefer a mellow sounding piano to a bright so I chose that setting to play in RS. I don't care how fancy or expensive or necessary a player organ is for the RS room, I hate it!!! It sounded like electronic garbage instead of a piano. I tried both piano settings and they sound the same. So here's my solution ... everyone needs to learn how to play one hymn. You don't need to learn any more than one, just one. That way, you can switch out each week and have a different song and not worry that there is no one that can play the piano so the need for a player organ isn't necessary. See, easy solution and a whole lot cheaper and better sounding than the monstrosity I was trying to make pretty on Sunday. Obviously this was invented by a man!

But, I do love my callings and next time you visit, mom, you can laugh at me in my antics to provide beautiful music. : )

Ryleigh has taken up drinking, and she's going for the gold. Hence, the title, drinking like a rock star! If it were alcohol she was guzzling, her liver would be pickled by now. I'm so proud of her!!!

Seriously, Ryleigh went in for surgery Wednesday morning (WWWAAAYYYY early - we started at 4:30am). She had her Tonsils and Adenoids (sp?) removed. Grandma, you'll be pleased to find out that they went down her throat and checked it and her voice box and all is normal and well, she just has a sexy voice (or at least did). Right now she sounds like she's been sucking on helium. Scott and I both hope her voice returns to normal shortly!!!We spent the night and returned home just now. She has been a champ and really is drinking like a rock star. So the pics in this post are to describe where the tonsils and adenoids are located. The second one shows a bad tonsil area and a good (meaning cleared) tonsil area. The third is not Ryleigh, but her tonsils were described by her ENT as monstrous and these look very similar to hers. Where you would normally see a dangling thingy in the center and nice big openings leading down the throat, hers had no dangling thingy and only a circle no bigger than a #2 pencil eraser leading down the throat. They truly were monstrous!!!! There is now a "cavernous" opening going down her throat as the doctor described it and that is why her voice is changed but it should return to normal and if it doesn't (which occasionally happens) we'll get used to her new voice.

As I've said in earlier posts, 'tis the season for speed and non-stop activity, so tonight (yes, you read correct ... the very same night that we returned from the hospital) we go to Colbey's band concert, tomorrow is the Hooten farewell/graduation party and the combined ward Christmas party. Saturday I think is designated for catching up on my sleep. (I've gotten 10 hours in the last 72. I am surely not as young as I used to be because I'm hurting right now!!!) : )

PS - The tooth fairy left Pokemon cards for Landon's second tooth. He was thrilled!!